


Experimental Features

by glorious_spoon



Series: Tumblr/Twitter Prompt Fic [56]
Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Car Accidents, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25116550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_spoon/pseuds/glorious_spoon
Summary: “As I mentioned earlier,” Jarvis said with remarkable aplomb as the ground fell away beneath them, “some of the features are highly experimental.”
Relationships: Peggy Carter & Edwin Jarvis
Series: Tumblr/Twitter Prompt Fic [56]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1313993
Comments: 13
Kudos: 37
Collections: Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 11





	Experimental Features

**Author's Note:**

> For a tumblr prompt from gwynnia, who asked for _For vehicle crash: when she commandeered Howard's car Peggy didn't realize that some of the features were a bit experimental_. Also fulfills the 'vehicle crash' square on my Hurt/Comfort Bingo card.

“As I mentioned earlier,” Jarvis said with remarkable aplomb as the ground fell away beneath them, “some of the features are highly experimental.”

“Yes, I see that,” Peggy said breathlessly. On the one hand, they weren’t being chased anymore. On the other— “Precisely how long can we expect to remain airborne?”

“Ah. Well.”

“That is not reassuring, Mr. Jarvis.”

“Mr. Stark’s experiments on the matter were less than conclusive.”

“I see.”

“Quite explosive, however.”

Peggy glanced at him sidelong without loosening her grip on the wheel. He was holding onto the safety handle with a white-knuckled grip. As though he sensed her eyes on him, he glanced over to give her a tight-lipped smile that was clearly meant to be reassuring but had rather the opposite effect. The car seemed to have evened out, at the very least, as she eased off the secondary pedal. That was good. They were already well above the treetops, and if they’d continued their ascent for much farther, things could have gone—very badly indeed.

Worse than they already were, that was. “I don’t suppose he included parachutes.”

“Not to my knowledge, no.”

There was an ominous coughing noise from the engine beneath them. It was impossible to tell if it had been damaged—the men below might have been shocked when they lifted off into the air, but they hadn’t stopped shooting—or if it was simply down to Howard’s slapdash efforts at engineering. Or both.

“I’m going to kill Howard,” she murmured, and started looking for a clear spot to land. They were starting to lose height, slowly but surely, in a downward arc, and if she couldn’t find a likely spot soon—

There. It was barely a break in the trees surrounding what was—she realized to her dismay a moment later—a dangerously steep and rocky slope. It was too late to change course, however.

“Brace yourself, Mr. Jarvis,” she said, spinning the wheel in a grimly white-knuckled grip and aiming as best as she could for the small clearing.

The descent was a nightmarish jumble, trees rushing past them, branches snapping against the windshield and sending cracks spiderwebbing across it. The glass held, however, as they jolted onto the rocky slope, lifted off slightly, skidded sideways, and finally came to a violent halt against a large oak tree. For a moment, Peggy simply sat still, dazed, still gripping the steering wheel. Then she forced her aching hands to relax. “Mr. Jarvis?”

There was a dreadfully long silence. Under the trees, the moonlight was patchy and dim: enough to illuminate water shining at the bottom of the slope, but not enough to tell if Jarvis’s stillness was shock or something more sinister. Before she could reach out, however, he groaned, then levered himself painfully forward. “Oof. Ow. Well, that shirt is certainly a loss. Ana will be quite put out with me, you know. And you by association.”

“Mr. Jarvis,” Peggy said, her voice made sharp by relief. “I’m quite certain we have bigger problems to worry about right now.”

“I suppose you’re right.” He tilted forward a little more, then caught himself on the dashboard with a shaking hand. The motion brought him forward enough to show a nasty-looking cut along his hairline, dribbling blood down the side of his face and onto the aforementioned shirt. “On a positive note, we seem to have lost our pursuers.”

“I certainly hope so.” Before he could make some foolish effort at climbing through the window past the bulk of the tree trunk on his side, she slid out of the driver’s seat and onto the springy underbrush. The smell of burning oil was stronger from outside the car, and moving made her aware of a whole host of new bruises, but she didn’t seem to be seriously injured, at least. “I think you’ll have an easier time coming across this side.”

“I think you’re right,” he said, but it took him a moment to actually inch across the broad seat. Peggy offered him a hand up; he took it with visible gratitude and allowed her to help him to his feet. She left him braced against the side of the car and leaned into the backseat. The contents were all a jumble, but she finally located a torch—broken, she discovered a moment later—and a handheld radio that seemed intact. It was sleek and small and bore a fashionable chrome shell that must have been Howard’s design.

“Will this work, do you think?”

Jarvis blinked at her for a worrying amount of time before he finally answered. “I...I don’t know. I’m sorry, Miss Carter—”

“No need to be sorry,” she said briskly. “You’ve a head injury. Let me look, please.”

“Ah,” Jarvis said vaguely. “That would explain the blood, I suppose.”

He fell silent as she reached up to examine his head as gently as she could manage with no torch and her own fingers shaking from adrenaline. The bone beneath seemed intact, at least, and if he’d lost consciousness, it had been for no more than a few seconds.

Anything else would have to wait for a hospital, assuming they could get to the high ground. She squinted at the tree-studded hillside. There seemed to be another clearing farther up, if she could get across the stream—it didn’t seem especially wide, although this time a year it was certain to be freezing.

Nothing for it, though. “I’m going to try to get up high enough to send out a distress call. Will you be alright here?”

“I’ll come with you,” Jarvis said faintly.

“Don’t be absurd.”

“I consider it a matter of self-preservation to prevent you from being eaten by wild beasts while you’re arranging our rescue.”

“I doubt you could hit the broad side of a barn with your pistol right now,” Peggy said, not unkindly, but she offered him her shoulder instead of arguing. It would have wasted precious time, and she didn’t especially want to be alone in the woods either. More smoke was starting to billow skyward, and if anyone was still looking for them, that would be a handy beacon. Also, she didn’t entirely trust the car not to explode. “Come on, then.”

Jarvis slung an arm over her shoulders. As they started picking their way down toward the riverbank, he let out a sudden, soft bark of laughter.

"What on earth could possibly be funny?" Peggy asked.

"Ah, well," Jarvis said, then laughed again, dizzily, “As much as I always enjoy our adventures, Miss Carter, I hope on our next outing you’ll allow me to drive.”


End file.
